The American Institute in Taiwan is the de facto Embassy of the United States of America in Taiwan. The AIT institution is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the federal government of the United States in Taiwan with Congressional oversight. The AIT was officially created as a U.S. government-sponsored non-profit,private corporation established under the auspices of the U.S. government to serve its interests in Taiwan. Primarily staffed by employees of the United States Department of State and local workers,the AIT provides consular services normally offered by United States diplomatic missions,with the Great Seal of the State Department hung at AIT's main office in Taipei. The establishment of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1979 required acknowledgment of the "one-China policy" and subsequent termination of diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan). The AIT now serves to assist and protect U.S. interests in Taiwan in a quasi-official manner,and also processes U.S. visas and provides consular services to U.S. expatriates. Following the swift passage of the 2018 Taiwan Travel Act by the United States,it now serves as a high-level representative bureau on behalf of United States in Taiwan. It receives full protection from the United States Marine Corps as do all U.S. embassies.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO),also known as Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO),Taipei Representative Office (TRO) or Taipei Mission,is an alternative diplomatic institution serving as a de facto embassy or a consulate of the Republic of China to exercise the foreign affairs and consular services in specific countries which have established formal diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. As the PRC denies the legitimacy of the ROC as a sovereign state and claims the ROC-controlled territories as an integral part of its China. An exclusive mandate namely One-China policy,mandates any country that wishes to establish a diplomatic relationship with the PRC must first sever any formal relationship with the ROC. According to The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs,"non-recognition of the Taiwanese government is a prerequisite for conducting formal diplomatic relations with the PRC—in effect forcing other governments to choose between Beijing and Taipei." As a result,these countries only allow the ROC to establish representative offices instead of a fully-fledged embassy or consulate for the purpose of conducting practical bilateral relations without granting full diplomatic recognition.
In the United States government,the Bureau of African Affairs (AF) is part of the U.S. Department of State and is charged with advising the Secretary of State on matters of Sub-Saharan Africa. The bureau was established in 1958. It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs who reports to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Molly Phee is the current Assistant Secretary.
Richard A. Boucher is an American diplomat who was deputy secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from 2009 until 2013. He took up post on November 5,2009. Prior to joining OECD,he was the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs,a post he took up on February 21,2006. The Bureau of South Asian Affairs was expanded to include the nations of Central Asia shortly before his confirmation.
In the United States Government,the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs is part of the United States Department of State and is charged with advising the Secretary of State and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs on matters of the Asia-Pacific region,as well as dealing with U.S. foreign policy and U.S. relations with countries in that area. It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs,who reports to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.
Eunice Sharon Reddick is an American diplomat and is a former ambassador to Niger. She previously served as the U.S. ambassador to Gabon and São Toméand Príncipe.
James Peter Zumwalt is an American diplomat with expertise in trade,economy,and East Asia. On November 19,2014,he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the U.S. Ambassador to Senegal and to Guinea-Bissau. Previously,he worked as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs,covering Japan and Korea. Until December 2011,he was the Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo where he also served as chargéd'affaires ad interim during the absence of an Ambassador from January to August 2009. He coordinated the U.S. Embassy's response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
Teddy Bernard Taylor is a United States diplomat. A member of the Senior Foreign Service,Taylor served as the United States Ambassador to Papua New Guinea,Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. He was succeeded by Walter E. North on November 7,2012.
Glyn Townsend Davies is a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service. He served as US Ambassador to the United Nations International Organizations in Vienna from 2009 to 2011,as Special Representative for North Korea Policy from 2011 to 2014,and as Ambassador to Thailand from 2015 to 2018.
Joseph Yuosang Yun is the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Compact Negotiations,appointed in March 2022 by President Joe Biden to negotiate amendments to the Compact of Free Association (COFA),the agreement governing the relationship between the United States and the Freely Associated States (FAS) of the Federated States of Micronesia,the Marshall Islands,and Palau.
Robert Frank Godec is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to Thailand since October 2022. He formerly served as the United States ambassador to Kenya from 2013 to 2019 and the United States ambassador to Tunisia from 2006 to 2009. He also served as acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs from January to September 2021.
Atul Keshap is an American diplomat and career United States Foreign Service Officer from Virginia who recently served as the Chargéd'affaires of the United States mission to India. He formerly served as U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the United States Department of State. In January,2022,he was appointed as the president of U.S.-India Business Council. In 2022,Ambassador Keshap was elected into membership of the American Academy of Diplomacy.
Kin Wah Moy(born 1966) is an American diplomat and holds the diplomatic rank of career minister. He is the first Chinese-American to hold the post as director of the American Institute in Taiwan. Having served in the Department of State and several diplomatic outposts,he began his tenure as the director of the American Institute in Taiwan,the de facto embassy of the United States in Taiwan,in June 2015.
Susan Ashton Thornton is a former American diplomat and former acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
W. Patrick Murphy is a career U.S. diplomat. A Senior Foreign Service Officer,he served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2018 to 2019,fulfilling the duties of Acting Assistant Secretary,and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia and Multilateral Affairs,2016–2018. He previously served as Chargéd'affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission in the Kingdoms of Thailand and Lesotho. He was nominated on January 16,2019 to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Matthew John Matthews was an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Brunei from 2019 to 2020.
Susan Lenore Bremner is an American diplomat who served as Chargéd’Affaires ad interim to Eritrea from July 2012 to April 2014.,and Chargéd’Affaires ad interim to Chad during her tenure as Deputy chief of mission (DCM) from 2009 to 2011. She was with the State Department for 30 years,serving in Asia,Europe and Africa.
Julie Jiyoon Chung,birth name as Chung Ji-yoon,is a Korean-American diplomat who has served as the United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka since 2022. She previously served as Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the United States Department of State's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA). Her first overseas assignment was in Guangzhou,China. Chung has later served in several posts in Japan,Vietnam,Thailand,Cambodia,Colombia and Iraq.
Marc Evans Knapper is an American diplomat who has served as the United States Ambassador to Vietnam since February 2022.
